Hmmm. I don't know how I feel about it saying "big log" in the title, but whatever...

Ok. So the story goes like this. We were having a "healthy weights" challenge to not gain weight over the holiday. I played along, and even tried to lose some pounds through exercise. I started just before thanksgiving (2009) at 164, and got to 161 just after christmas.

That's when I realized I needed to be going to the other way. I got a gym membership as soon as I got back in town the monday after christmas (i'm fortunate to have a gym a 1/2 mile from my house.) and started lifting. I lifted for about a week and a half just doing whatever I felt like with no plan. Usually 3 sets of 10 of whatever I was doing.

Then Chewy suggested Stronglifts, and I did a slightly modified version of that for the last just about 3 weeks. It is/was awesome.I was doing deadlifts (1x5), incline presses, overhead presses, squats (those 3 5x5), weighed crunches and back extensions (3x10). Then I did an oblique twist on some machine for 3x10 on each side.

That was it in the gym. I do pushups at home every night.

In the last month I went from 3x10 incline benching something silly like 85 pounds to something slightly less silly at 110 for 5x5.squats went from 135 3x10 to 165 5x8 (today..I'll get to that)Deadlifts all over the place. 1x5 at 165 to 5x8 at 145lbs today (after squats and good mornings. I was tired, for sure)Good mornings. Went from the bar 3x10 to 5x8 at 95 lbs.overhead dumbell presses 35lbs (each arm) for 5x5 (palms in)

I do my back extensions with a 45lb plate and 3x10, and a 25 plate on my crunches 3x10. today i went 5x8 though.

So that WAS my routine.

After meeting with the owner of my gym, I'm changing things. I'm getting big for rugby (and to look like a man, instead of a boy) I'll be changing things up. He told me to NOT squat all the way down, because it's hard on the knees (debatable) and because I'll never encounter that situation on the field). he told me do palm out the overhead presses, and do 5x8 building up to 5x12 instead of 5x5 to build muscular endurance. He is getting his masters in exercise physiology, and played QB at Arizona State. I feel like he knows what it will take to get good on a field, so I'm going to trust him. He also told me to split between upper and lower body (which I wasn't really doing before, to get more rest)

So, as of now I'll be doing 5x8 (working to 5x12 before adding more weight)

Day 1 and 3 will be upper body_______________Incline presses as the main liftinverted rowsoverhead presschin and pull upstricep pullovercurls

day 2 and 4 will be lower body__________Squatsdeadliftsgood mornings or back extensionsoblique twists with the cable crossover machineweighted crunches calf lifts.

that's it. Will track progress.

Also, today, at the gym, with no shoes I weighed 176 lbs. My skinfold test revealed I have 161 lbs of lean body mass, and 15lbs of fat for an 8% body fat. I will be following up with another test in a month to see what sort of progress I've made in the meantime.

back. I am WAAAY to little to be in the scrum. my goal is a strong 90kg. if I can keep my 8% body fat at 195 or so pounds I'd be super happy. I am hoping my bike racing background and the running i've done will keep me quick enough to not get killed until I get big enough to take a hit.

I can't wait to get out there. Very excited.

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

Jason X wrote:After meeting with the owner of my gym, I'm changing things. I'm getting big for rugby (and to look like a man, instead of a boy) I'll be changing things up. He told me to NOT squat all the way down, because it's hard on the knees (debatable)

- Stopping at or above parallel places direct stress on the knees, whereas a deep squat will transfer the load to the hips, which are capable of handling a greater amount of force than the knees should ever be exposed to.- For functional strength, one should descend as deeply as possible, and under control. - The further a lifter descends, the more the hamstrings are recruited. Since one of the functions of the hamstring is to protect the patella tendon (the primary tendon involved in knee extension) during knee extension, the greatest degree of hamstring recruitment should provide the greatest degree of protection to the knee joint.

Yeah sosso. I know. The more I think about this the more I feel comfortable squatting deep. We'll see how it goes. maybe I'll meet him in the middle and go back and forth on the depth every other session.

That was the main point of contention. I like deeper, too. feels more satisfying. His theory was that you'll never find yourself in a situation where you'll need to power through something with your knees past parallel on the field, therefore there wasn't a real point in training that far.

I'm skeptical, but willing to try it his way for the time being.

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

Jason X wrote:That was the main point of contention. I like deeper, too. feels more satisfying. His theory was that you'll never find yourself in a situation where you'll need to power through something with your knees past parallel on the field, therefore there wasn't a real point in training that far.

that's really interesting, i would have thought you would find yourself in squats past parallel. but anyways, are rugby players ever gonna find themselves on the field with barbells on their backs squatting just to parallel? i think we use weights at the gym to support our strength and other things, there's no way we can mimic our sport in the gym. we can just enhance our bodies so that we can train for our specific sports more efficiently...

sosso and vivalasvegans are right. People don't squat because it exactly mimics an activity in sport, they squat to get strong. And squats need to be deep to serve that purpose.

Be careful with the idea of alternating half and real squats. At the very least don't consider what you half-squat to have any bearing on actual strength levels. You'll find that you can squat a LOT more high than you can to proper depth. The ego boost of the heavier weights will also probably make the idea of squatting less weight to a valid depth somewhat distasteful.

Incline presses. 5x8 at 105 lbs (yeah, I'm working on it...)Inverted rows. 5x8 overhead press (dumbell) 30lbs each arm 5x8Tricep pullover 40lbs 5x8pull ups (wide grip palms out) 5x8 on the assist machine. set at 85, i think, lbs. Again, working on it!finished with curls. 5x8 first 3 sets, 5x10 4th and 5x12 last. 40lbs. Gonna go 5x12. if I can do that I'll up the weight.

by the time I finished that my arms felt like they were gonna explode. it was rad. I still have a total bike racer body with no upper half so far. 3rd time. I'm working on it.

Today (feels like yesterday) was a Lower Half day.

Started with Squats. 165 5x8 (1/2 squats, I'll admit it) then did 1 set of 10 all the way down/explode up squats with 135lbs. calf raises 6 plates each side on the leg press machine to failure (about 30-40) x3. 3x10 leg presses same weight.deadlifts 5x8 135lbs weighted crunches 5x10 25lbsoblique twists on cable crossover 5x8 each side at 42.5lbsback extensions 5x8 w/45lb plate

that's it. Friday is arms again. This 4 day split has got me wanting to go more often! Thinking about rotating every other week between 4 and 6 day splits. but class gets in the way of that.

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

it's just helps you pull up when you have the upper body of a 12 year old girl. Kinda like using a resistant band under your knees to help you up, it uses a knee shelf and a counterweight. I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, but I'm going for accuracy and real documentation.

also can use the machine for dips as well (but I can do dips the real way...)

does that make sense?

like this, but a different. same idea though.

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

After totally being WAY too exhausted to go to the gym before of after work yesterday I went after work today. Short day. Only did Squats, Deadlifts, calves and leg presses. I think I am going to a 6 day split.